Covering the Industrial Complex.

Monthly Archives: September 2012

More than 10 years ago, the 9/11 attacks left a gaping hole in New York – and across the US as a whole. This open wound continues to divide communities to this day. In this two-part documentary, Al Jazeera follows the stories of some of those caught up in the anti-terrorist crackdown that followed 9/11 as they speak out about the injustices they have endured and their fears of a rising Islamophobia.

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After the tragic events that have taken place in Libya over the last 48 hours, the United States has moved in military assets in a show of force. The Associated Press reports:

50 Marines are part of an elite rapid-response team and they were sent to assess and reinforce security in Libya in the aftermath of the attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador there and three other Americans.

Known as a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team, or FAST, the team’s role is to respond on short notice to terrorism threats and to bolster security at U.S. embassies. They operate worldwide, and the team that went is one of two that are based in Spain.

The Pentagon also ordered two Navy destroyers to the Libyan coast. Officials said the ships, the USS McFaul and USS Laboon, which carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, did not have a specific mission, but they give commanders flexibility to respond to any mission ordered by the president. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

While the two Arleigh Burke class destroyers do not provide the kind of military presence that a carrier battle group or even an amphibious ready group do, they do provide significant military assets. In addition to carrying cruise missiles, the ships can collect and provide intelligence to fleet commanders. As well as provide support for Special Forces.

A new report from The Iran Project and signed by a who’s who of foreign policy heavy weights, including Sen. Chuck Hagel, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Richard Armitage, Brent Scowcroft, and Adm. William Fallon, warns that an attack on Iran could “produce serious unintended consequences that would significantly increase all of these costs and lead, potentially, to all-out regional war.” This adds to a series of reports that have warned of the consequences of such an attack.

Jasmin Ramsey at LobeLog writes that “ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon would require an ‘expanded air and sea war over a prolonged period of time, likely several years,’ argues the report, which has been authored, signed and endorsed by a bipartisan group of high-profile senior national security advisers, experts and diplomats. Unilateral action by Israel is unlikely to substantially set back Iran’s nuclear program or destroy all of Iran’s nuclear sites, states the paper, which is based on a ‘wide range of expert opinion’.”

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Canada has ordered the deportation of an American war resister. The Associated Press reports that Kimberly Rivera has been ordered to leave the country by September 20th. Rivera, a US Army Private, fled the United States to avoid another tour in Iraq. After a 2006 deployment Rivera said she became disillusioned with the mission and fled to Canada in 2007.

Living in Toronto with her husband and four children, Rivera is among and estimated 200 Iraq war resisters living in Canada. The country’s Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has ordered immigration officers to red flag US soldiers who are applying for asylum as criminally inadmissible. Michelle Robidoux of War Resisters Support Campaign told the AP that has “tainted the whole process.”

Kenney has called Iraq war resistors “bogus refugees,” has ignored not only public opinion about the Iraq war in Canada but the Canadian Parliament’s resolutions calling on Kenney not to deport war resistors. Kenney refuses to acknowledge or provide any justification for deporting the war resistors, hiding behind phony arguments.

Rivera told the AP that she is overwhelmed. “I don’t want to face reality. I respect Canada’s laws and I will still proceed with what it is that I have to do, but I’m trying to take it one step at a time so I don’t have meltdowns like earlier.”

For more information visit the War Resisters Support Campaign, founded in 2004 to assist U.S. military personnel who refused to participate in the Iraq war and came to Canada seeking asylum. Visit CourageToResist.org for information about American war resisters, and sign the Change.org petition, which already has more than 13,000 signatures.